Hiya! Just a quick note to say that Need To Read is on a summer hiatus. You’d think that I’d be reading more, not less in the summer, and I actually am, but I’m not really reading things that apply to NTR. I am reading some adult fiction, some ARCs for books that don’t come out for ages, and a lot of gardening and cookbooks. One of our goals (mine and my husband) is to become more and more self sufficient in regards to food. Last year was our first year as gardeners, and we learned a lot and even grew some of the easier to grow things (lots of zucchini, for example!). This year, we have quadrupled our garden space, and I’m getting invloved too. Also, one of my roles in the sustainability equation is food prep and storage. I’m having to study up on all this.

Just in case you’re interested, here are some of the things I’ll be reading this summer. Maybe you might feel inspired to try your hand at some gardening, or if you’re a pro and want to offer me tips, I’d love to hear them. Or maybe you just want to check out the cookbooks. Either way, if I read anything I think you might like (YA-wise), I’ll add it, but overall, postings on this blog will be light (I will keep up my regular homepage blog though). Enjoy your summer and eat well!

Organic Gardening For Dummies – your basics

Food Security for the Faint of Heart by Robin Wheeler – tonnes of great info on storing food

Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades – highly recommended by our gardener friends and proving invaluable to us West Coasters

Perfect Vegetables – if you think you don’t like veggies, or you only eat the basics, this is the BEST book ever. It will get you eating ALL of them. Trust me…I only ate carrots, corn and potatoes until I was 35. Now I eat it all (except eggplant) and this book went a long way towards getting me to this point.

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian – my turn-to book for EVERYTHING. Worth every penny (if you’re not a vegetarian, Mark Bittman has some other great cookbooks out too).

Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone – my new favourite. A recent gift and one that I’m sure will become another turn-to cookbook. Lovely and delish recipes.